The Reconcilable Bashing of Kingsley Moghalu

Henry
Henry
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Few months ago, 18 presidential aspirants of different political parties agreed to collectively produce a consensus candidate for the 2019 elections. In the official communiqué, Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT), as they called themselves deployed several collective pronouns in an attempt to emphasize a non-existing, illusory unity of purpose for their agenda.

Fast forward to August 30th, when the consensus candidate was ‘voted,’ only 11 of the 18 aspirants were remaining in PACT. Fela Durotoye of Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN) emerged as the consensus presidential candidate with a wide margin. Professor Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), came a distant second. Unsurprisingly, Kingsley Moghalu has decided to continue in the presidential race, consequently reneging on his commitment to surrender his ambition in support of PACT’s candidate.

Professor Moghalu wrote: “I am pressing ahead with my plan to contest the 2019 presidential election. This is despite the arrangement for a consensus candidate among the young presidential aspirants under the aegis of Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT), which today produced an outcome that has left many Nigerians expressing surprise and disappointment.” He went further to state in clear terms that “Clause 13 of the PACT Memorandum of Understanding asserts the supremacy of the constitutional rights of the aspirants to pursue their political aspirations.” In simple terms: he might have done wrong by the spirit behind PACT Memorandum but remains righteous before the Nigerian Constitution. However, the mallets aimed at him after deciding to press on with his campaign is worth evaluating.

First set of criticism came from the ‘We-Told-You-So’ camp- This folks don’t think Nigerian Politics fits the likes of Professor Moghalu. They are convinced that national political success is achievable through either PDP or APC. For this folks, Professor Moghalu was always never a serious contender, and the PACT crisis is their proof. They argued that a man who is unable to convince eleven enlightened fellows, cannot convince over 70 million registered voters. They’ve seen his type before, and when tough times come lurking, his type always never mix-it-up. The good folks in this camp are bent on painting him with the familiar broad brush of distrust and suspicion.

Then there’s the Flag-Waving-Intellectuals. The confessed rationalist. This folks are disappointed because Professor Moghalu ‘renege’ on his commitment to support PACT’s candidate. They claimed he failed the integrity test. A deeper evaluation of folks in this camp might reveal them as those who might have supported President Buhari and are dissatisfied with his performance. They might have given President Buhari a long rope, but will not extend such privilege to Professor Moghalu. The criticism from the Flag-Waving- Intellectuals were immediate and unmistakable. It was a criticism bent on reclaiming any patronizing adulations that might have been showered on the man that has sketch the most intellectually satisfying shape of the Nigeria of their dreams.

Then comes the last category, this are folks who see Professor Moghalu as a man consumed by his arrogant sense of moral purpose. They accused him of lacking epistemic humility. This folks nurture the subtle expectation that he devalues himself to fit their cheap standards.

It’s not exactly difficult to identify who is served by the attacks on Professor Moghalu. Regardless of how it’s painted, the confusion has sapped excitement and enthusiasm from Professor Moghalu’s candidacy. That said, he is pressing ahead with the plan to contest the 2019 presidential election. He referenced the Constitution in this decision, if he wins and reneges on his slogan: To Build A Nation, just remember that the Nigerian Constitution doesn’t explicitly mention those words in that order. At least, not to my knowledge.

Henry

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Henry

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